


Repeated Footage

by zarabithia



Category: seaQuest
Genre: F/M, Request Meme, Threesome, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-24
Updated: 2011-04-24
Packaged: 2017-10-18 14:29:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/189848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of the first season finale, Katie and Ben share some downtime.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Repeated Footage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [modestroad](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=modestroad).



> Prompts: Katie/Ben(/any), the past was part of her future | 003. Friendship @ Women Are Awesome Challenge.

The wine is sharper than Katie remembers, and she swirls it around in her glass, wondering if the difference is the wine's age or her own.

Across from her, Ben is on his second glass of wine, but his attention is currently diverted from the wine, both by the foreign dish whose pronunciation was better left to Tim's far more expert attempts, and by the repeated footage on the tiny television just above the bar.

"Don't you ever get tired of watching her blow up?" Katie asks. Her voice, in contrast to the wine, is not nearly as sharp as she intended. It's warmer, and matches the yellow sun dress she wears and the bright red tablecloths of the tiny restaurant they're eating in.

Ben gives her the kind of smile that has frustrated so many captains, and at least one commander, the kind of smile that has given him a certain reputation on SeaQuest. Katie won't argue with that reputation; she and Ben are divorced _for a reason_ , after all. But she will certainly point out that if there was nothing more to Ben than what his rep suggested, she never would have married him in the first place.

"C'mon, Katie. Didn't you ever knock down the blocks when you were done playing with them as a child?"

"I was more into building things than tearing them down, Ben."

"Of course you were." There's no malice underlining his words, just simple acceptance. "Well, see, that's the difference between us. I loved to build my towers as high as I could before sending Thor to knock them down."

"Wasn't Thor some sort of superhero? Why would he have been knocking your towers down?"

Ben shrugs. "Who knows? I'm sure Thor had his reasons."

A couple enters the restaurant, leaving the door open long enough to allow a small breeze to make its way inside. The air is as hot and dry as the sand surrounding the restaurant, and it does nothing to cool Katie off, but it does make the sweat-dampened hair on the back of her neck all the more obvious.

"It's hard to believe that she's really gone," Katie says of SeaQuest.

"They're building another one," Ben points out, unnecessarily. "Under Bridger's watchful eye."

"That's not the point, Ben. The point is that used to be our home. Watching footage of her getting blown to bits is disturbing."

"You've got to let go, Katie. In another month, you'll be reporting for captain's duty for another ship," Ben reminds her, and she pretends not to hear the wistfulness in his voice.

It's easier than acknowledging it, and explaining why she can't offer him a place on board.

Katie presses the rim of the wine glass against her lips. "My past is an important part of who I am," she says.

Ben gives her a wolfish smile as he drags his fork through the sauce on his plate. "I"m still kind of surprised that you left her, to be honest."

"Surprised I left her, or _him_?" Katie asks, because she can be just as wolfish, when she wants to be.

"Oh, and we were doing so well in not actually talking about Commander Ford," Ben sighs.

Another couple enters, and another breeze accompanies them. This time, the breeze ruffles Katie's skirt. She smooths down the skirt before she continues, "Not too long ago, you wanted to do a lot more than just _talk_ about Commander Ford."

Ben rolls his eyes. "Yeah, and look how well that went," he says, quickly stuffing a fork full of food into his mouth to avoid talking about the subject further.

"Jonathan is a great man, but he always had trouble accepting that you would always be part of my future," Katie admits. It's too bad, really, because the three of them could have been a great team. But a person can't force their heart to love someone, any more than Katie can force herself to let go of the past.

Ben gives a soft, vaguely self-conscious chuckle, the one that has always gotten her into so much trouble. It was the chuckle that had drawn Katie to Ben in the first place, and the chuckle that had made her give an impulsive "yes" when he'd proposed.

It beckons trouble again, but at least this time, Katie has been planning the type of trouble, and she can't have any guilt about indulging the whim. She nudges the straps of her left sandal loose with her right foot and runs her exposed foot up his pant leg.

Ben looks startled for the briefest moment before he recovers. "The big guy, in the Hawaiian shirt, at the end of the bar," he says, "I'm willing to bet he won't have Ford's problem."

It's easier not to have the problem when the entirety of a relationship is a fling in a tropical town nobody's ever heard of, Katie thinks. "I was thinking the lanky guy in red two tables to my left," she answers, taking a sip of wine.

She hasn't needed the wine for the extra courage in a while, but the wine is expensive, and they'll be leaving soon - hopefully with a third partner. It would be a shame for the very expensive wine to go to waste. She isn't making her captain's salary yet, after all.

Ben surveys the man long enough that the other man notices and makes eye contact with them. He gives them - both of them, which is essential - a wide, healthy looking smile that promises a night full of very pleasant things.

"That could work," Ben says finally.

"If he doesn't work out, we'll try the guy in the Hawaiian shirt," Katie offers.

"Compromise. I like it," Ben says, before tipping his glass back and finishing off the wine.

"You not arguing with me makes compromise easier than it used to be," Katie answers.

"I've never won an argument against you, Katie," Ben replies, "and it's good to learn from past mistakes, isn't it?"

The question is as sharp as the wine on Katie's tongue, but she lets it pass. "Yes, it is."

She slips her sandal back on as Ben stands and offers her his hand.

"Shall we?" he asks.

She smiles and places her hand in his as she stands. Hand-in-hand, they walk towards their destination as a united front.


End file.
